Ciara Knight

This book carried the tenderness of Ecclesiastes 3:1, where healing, trust, forgiveness, and family each seemed to arrive in their appointed season. Logan, Virginia, Tyler, and Bravo all carried wounds that needed patience, steadiness, grace, and room to heal. I loved how this story allowed hope and belonging to unfold gently.

I loved these characters. Logan’s tenderness with Tyler, Virginia’s protective heart, and Bravo’s own need for patient care gave the story such a lovable, show more meaningful warmth.

The Christian faith content felt sincere because it was tied to actual need. Ace does not answer Logan’s shame with a polished pep talk. He answers with humility: “You said you weren’t deserving to be a father. I’m saying none of us are, but I hope the good Lord will bless me and Jolene with a child someday. And trust me, there isn’t a part of me that believes I could be a good dad without His word to guide me.”

Virginia’s question came from that raw place where suffering and the ache of wanting to trust presses close: “How does your faith work? How can you trust in a God that let so much happen to you?”

Logan’s answer gave the story spiritual weight: “God didn’t make those things happen. People did … But faith gave me the strength to heal – and to forgive, including myself.”

Beautifully written, deeply lovable, and faith-filled in a way that made me eager to read more from Ciara Knight.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and a paperback copy via a special mailing. I am not required to write a positive review nor paid to do so. This is my honest and unbiased review. My thoughts and opinions expressed in this book review are my own. My review focuses on the writing and the story’s content, ensuring transparency and reliability. show less

This was very intriguing from page one. The writing style was crisp with no nonsense dialogue. The story was a slow romance of forced proximity. Rone is a hero who really does not want to be a hero because of a troubled past. Isobel is gutsy and determined. She has to find out what happened to her dad and will not back down. Trouble follows the pair as someone taunts them with threats. As they are pulled deeper into the mystery, they do not know who to trust.
The writing was compelling as it show more evoked vivid pictures of the action. This is the first time I have read this author and the distinctive prose makes me want to read more. A great addition was the loyal dog Echo who once belonged to Isobel’s dad. But Echo chose people and was in protection mode when it came to Isobel. Echo and his actions were captured expertly. The danger felt realistic and complicated. The outcome was very compelling. Although there were scenes of danger, nothing was graphic. This was a clean read from a Christian World View without overt Christian preaching but a clear understanding of right and wrong.
*A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the author. I was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are mine alone.* show less

Two people—two perfectly nice people, I suppose—meet eyes across a crowded antique store and fall madly in love. Or something. Only they're both keeping secrets from each other, and of course, those secrets have to come out in the most dramatic fashion possible.

But that's not quite enough. No, in addition to the dramatic Secret Reveal, these two people have to be so stuck in their pasts, and so distrusting of one another, that they can only "selflessly" vow to give the other up rather show more than hold on to one another in the face of adversity.

I don't actually know how this book ends. I got so angry with the ridiculous way these two perfectly nice people were treating each other that I stopped reading 30 pages from the end. Life is too short to bother with badly plotted and lazily characterized romance novels. show less

I was given this book through the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Fanatics R2R for an honest review, thank you.



This story is told in third person with switching viewpoints through the main characters, Tardon a male warrior and Arianna a female warrior.

The Curse of Gremdon is set in a world where there are people who live within a fortress governed by the “Elders” and those who live outside the fortress who are called the “Cursed.” Warriors protect the people from the Cursed. The show more amulet worn by the people was given to them by the Elders supposedly to help protect them from those who are Cursed. I figured out pretty soon that the amulet controlled the people, but not to what extent, which I will leave for the reader to find out. I liked the world building, very interesting idea, although I think it would have been better to spend more time on the story of Gremdon, the Elders, and the society within the fortress rather all the over the top angst between Tardon and Arianna.

Now we get to Tardon and Arianna. Sigh, where do I begin? They have got to be two of the most annoying characters I’ve ever read. For half of the book, Tardon is lusting after Arianna and doing his ”I am Caveman! No one dare touch or even look at Arianna, she is MINE!” routine. He’s constantly threatening to kill Sardon because Tardon thinks Sardon wants Arianna for his own. Arianna on the other hand, went from a fierce warrior to a whining female. When she’s wounded she thinks she is useless, that Tardon will no longer want her. On and on she goes, “Does he love me? No, he doesn’t love me! He’s had so many other women who are much more skilled! I am not pretty enough! I am useless!” Dear God, I wanted to smack her and Tardon upside the head, or at least duct tape both of their mouths shut. Arianna was a whiny character that hardly ever spent time as a warrior; she was either injured, chained in the dungeon or pregnant. The author could have spent more time on the world building and the fortress and the stories about Gremdon rather than wasting so much time with the ridiculous relationship, or rather non-relationship, between Tardon and Arianna. Some people probably like characters like this, but I prefer a story with strong, real personalities and not an exaggerated example of a Caveman and a Damsel in Distress. Over half of the first part of the book before the journey could have been removed and the story would have been lots less annoying.

Next is the technical stuff. The book cover is great, very attractive, I like it a lot. However the bad stuff. Formatting for my NOOK, absolutely sucked. This book has some of the worst formatting I’ve read on an eBook. Paragraphs run together or cut off suddenly in the middle of a sentence half way up the page, only to skip a blank page and then continue on. Dialogue of two different characters run together in the same paragraph so it makes it difficult to figure out who is talking. Everything that could possibly go wrong with the formatting happened except font size changing.

In conclusion, the author created a unique world that I wish she had spent more time on. What kind of legends surrounded the Elders and how did they arrive? We could have been shown more of the workings of the fortress. As it was, the author wasted too much time on the ridiculous antics of both Tardon and Arianna for half of the book, which is a real shame. I give this story 2 stars because of the main characters. Even though I found the world building interesting, the mc's over the top behavior ruined it for me.

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